VALRICO, Fla. — A group of Strawberry Crest High School students won the national Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM Competition last year, and now, one of them got the opportunity of a lifetime: traveling to Paris for the Olympics to present their project.

What You Need To Know

  • Aarushi Pant represented Strawberry Crest High School's STEM team at the Olympics as a Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Ambassador

  • Her team created the “Human Health Band” for Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition, which they won last year

  • More Good News headlines

Aarushi Pant just returned from the Paris Olympics with a medal of her own.

“I was really excited to be able to get this award for being an ambassador at the Together for Tomorrow Enabling People program,” she said as she showed off the glass medal made especially for student ambassadors.

Samsung partnered with the International Olympic Committee, sending nine students to Paris from around the world as part of the “Samsung Solve for Tomorrow” competition. Pant was selected from the Strawberry Crest High School’s team.

“When I got the phone call, I was excited," she said. "I’ve never seen the Olympics in person. It’s a totally new experience for me, too, seeing the crowd go wild, and everyone cheering for the players of their nations. It was just an unreal moment for me."

Aarushi Pant just returned from the Paris Olympics with a medal of her own. (Photo provided by Aarushi Pant)
Aarushi Pant just returned from the Paris Olympics with a medal of her own. (Photo provided by Aarushi Pant)

In the spring of 2023, Pant and other members of the “Human Health Band” were working on their entry for Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition, which they ended up winning. Pant presented it to the other ambassadors in Paris.

“Our solution tackles down the issue of heat-related illnesses, which I believe is really prominent in our community specifically," she said. "And seeing how sports and technology come together in the Together for Tomorrow Enabling Program, I see why our solution might be really perfect for that."

Through her work on the “Human Health Band,” and learning more about STEM, Pant said she’s even more excited about her future plans to be a doctor.

“I feel like this experience was really helpful for that, because it opened my eyes to STEM — seeing how STEM could be used to solve our community problems,she said. "And medicine is all about using STEM and technology."

While she may not have been in Paris as an athlete, Pant says this experience was her Olympics, too.

“Together for Tomorrow, Enabling People” is a new, digital initiative designed to help young people around the world get involved in the Olympic movement. Only one other student from the United States attended.